This month is unlike any other month. While the rest of U squad is off in Bulgaria serving The Lord, team Endless Pursuit has traveled the opposite direction doing Unsung Heroes in Montenegro and Bosnia. Our team works as a networking agent for AIM, seeking out new ministry contacts for future World Racers to have the opportunity to serve with.
Here is a map to give you an idea of where we are.
This definitely was not apart of the plan. Originally we were suppose to travel to Sofia, Bulgaria at the end of the month before heading off to do ministry in Bulgaria. Then in the middle of our month, our contact in Kosovo mentioned that one of their fellow missionaries had started a small church plant in Bosnia. Will quickly jumped on the opportunity and emailed AIM asking if there was any possibility of our team traveling to Bosnia to hopefully AIM with that contact as well as others in this area. Now, two weeks later, we are living in a church in Podgorica, Montenegro, hundreds of miles away from the rest of our squad, traveling around Montenegro and Bosnia looking for new ministry contacts to partner with the World Race. We are going to be traveling a lot this month, spending 2 weeks in Montenegro and 2 weeks in Bosnia. No one from the World Race has very been to Montenegro thus far and it is really exciting to pioneer these countries.
Though this sounds exciting, it can be overwhelming in that we have to find at least 4 places to stay that cost around five dollars a day which is nearly impossible anywhere in Europe! So the name of the game this month is TRUST! Trusting that The Lord is going to guide us of where He wants us to go, trusting that He will provide us with housing and affordable means of travel. Coming into this month, we were all a little nervous how we were going to stay under budget this month. Europe is an expensive place and its hard to find a hostel for less than 8 or 9 dollars. But its been amazing. We have been staying in an awesome church in Pristina for the last 4 days and we have multiple housing opportunities over the next couple of weeks for free! Its crazy how much God has provided for us. We have also been connected with some amazing ministries thus far. God has big plans for Montenegro and its so evident that He is using us as an instrumental part of this process.
Another interesting factor in our month is the rocky history of the Balkans. The Balkans have had many rough wars and battles which has left a lot of hostility and hurt. Bosnia and Montenegro use to be apart of Yugoslavia which was a communist nation. The fall of communism and Yugoslavia has led to this country splitting up to five smaller nations. With all this said, there are many cultural biases and historical implications we have to be wary of as we talk to our contacts and other people. For example, Montenegrins severely dislikes Kosovo and Albania. Saying that we were there last month could possible cause some tension. Also, America aided Albania and Kosovo during the latest Balkan war and fought against Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and other Yugoslavic nations which creates a general dislike towards Americans. Please pray that we can still reach the people of these two nations, that we can reach workers that need some encouragement and connect to the World Race. Please be praying for us that Lord will guide our path and continue to show up in big ways! Please also pray that our team stays unified throughout all this travel and that we continue to fight the spirits of the land. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
